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Imperial Propaganda and The Moonstone. Rnd 2

Imperial Propaganda and The Moonstone

In the opening and closing of the novel, The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, the location is set in British colonial India with the majority of the narrative occurring in England. In the prologue, a precious Jewel is stolen from a temple in India by a middle class English man. Wilkie Collins links the theft of the jewel to violence and in turn associates theft and violence with colonial administration. The Moonstone is accused of containing imperialist propaganda, yet if one looks closely, an alternate reading emerges which conveys disagreement with the imperial frame of mind.

Though Collins characters are stereotyped British colonists, Collins novel criticizes these characters as they speak. Towards the beginning of Moonstone, the character of Gabriel Betteredge states that the inviolability of the English house has been “invaded by a devilish Indian diamond.’ (p67) Yet the prolog clearly points out that it was the invasion of the Indian homeland by the British that resulted in the misplacing of the sacred Jewel. The three Indians charged with recovering the Jewel are also portrayed stereotypically with attributes given to them such as having ‘the patience of cats...the ferocity of tigers’ (p108); both cats and tigers are signs of the Indian culture. In the English culture, worth is estimated in terms of its monetary value, whereas in the Hindu culture the stone is measured only by its spiritual value. The colonial leaders rationalized their actions by reasoning that they were enlightening a culture they saw as inferior. The colonialists were taking control of the Indian markets and spreading Christianity through out the country. Collins used the Jewel to convey his thoughts of imperial British rule. The jewel comes to England and causes distress among all who come into contact with it, yet in India the Jewel is held as sacred and seems to bring peace and calm to everyone. English society can not deal with this jewel without backstabbing, lies and deceit ensuing. Collins seems to be asking what right the British have in viewing themselves as superior to the Indian society.

Collins shows that even the English social order cannot solve the case of the moonstone. Ezra Jennings, the man responsible for cracking the case, is an outcast in the English society. He wasn’t even raised in England but at an unnamed colonial outpost. The fact that a man raised in an English colony such as India was at the time, constructs the final plan for discovering the truth points to the deeper imperial meaning through out the novel. Collins seems to imply that maybe Britain isn’t capable of controlling other nations because it can’t even deal with its own problems. This is demonstrated overall with the problem the moonstone creates and not even British born sergeant Cuff can solve the riddle but a man from a colonial outpost, such as India was at the time, solves the case.
Opium, the drug that causes the problem in the first place, is that of the Asian origin. Collins himself was in a state of heavy opium usage himself during the period when he wrote the Moonstone which is very ironic that an Asian drug was helping the suffering of a British man, so it’s no shock that the drug gets a fair deal of attention in the story. While The Moonstone is primarily a tale of family secrets, religious corruption, and an English society with a central attribute of disregard, the use of colonial markers and the subversion of stereotypes reveal that for Wilkie Collins there was an inherent link between a malfunctioning society and colonial exploitation. Scott Hanley

Stranded on the Mainland

Hello class,
If anyone else is unable to make it to class tomorrow morning due to lack of transportation as a result of the terrential downpour, send me an email and maybe we can all swap papers so we don't lose the advantage of having someone look over the paper. I've emailed Fabien as well, but in case there's a third person, let me know and we can just pass them in a circle or something of the sort.

Happy sailing!

-holly.

peer edits after reading break

hi. fabienne here. i have a small request/proposition:

i won't be able to make it to class on thursday morning ( my dad is coming to town, and he lives in beijing, and he'll only be here for a day, so i'm going to spend the day with him) and thursday happens to be the day for peer editing our essays. would any of you be willing to do an essay swap outside of class hours, possibly thursday evening?

if so, please email fabcf@hotmail.com

thanks. happy reading break.

-f.

Toby Moisey
06/11/2006
Eng 200C
Dr. Shlensky
The Moonstone – Wilkie Collins
Close Reading

Every good mystery needs an even more mysterious back-story. The back story sets the reader up for a compelling and interesting story, it fills in the information he needs to know in order to feel part of the story. We all know how we feel when we are told (usually in giggles) that “you had to be there” before some juicy gossip flows. The prologue of The Moonstone lets use be there. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins takes place in Victorian England starting in 1848, but the prologue is the story of the Storming of Seringapatam which takes place in 1799. The back-story is full mystery and contains the legends of the “adventures”[1] of the yellow diamond beginning in the eleventh century.

The warnings about the moonstone are fierce. It is cursed, decreed in a dream by Vishnu himself to three Brahmins, and that the Moonstone is guarded till “the end of the generations of men”[2]. Vishnu also predicted “certain disaster to the presumptuous mortal,” to his family and everyone to ever receive it after him. This is key to the story. This informs the reader that there is a curse and that bad things will happen to the person who steals it. It makes the reader want to read on because as a human he is a sick beast and wants to know what those bad things are.

In the prologue of The Moonstone it is hinted that the Moonstone was acquired by Herncastle, not through rage, but to prove a point of rage, he believed in the moonstone and was teased for it. If Starwars has taught me anything about literature it is this, the dark side is bad. Only ill events come from ill means. Hearncastel wanted the moonstone because he believed in it and because he believed in it he also believes in the curse. This lets the reader believe in the curse, their belief heightens their excitement over the investigation, and with heightened excitement the job of the prologue is complete.

The schism of the Herncastles begins in the prologue. The author has presented his story so the “relatives on either side” to form their own opinions on Herncastle. Herncastle is made out to be an evil man. The author has taking action to be separated from him in the forces, and he feels the need to write to his family about the situation. It all leads the reader to feel that Hearncastle is an evil man and that he should not be trusted.

The author of the letter found in the family papers concludes his passages with an ominous statement. This statement, if taken seriously by the reader, is key to understanding the doom and gloom of the story. The author warns that Herncastle “will live to regret” stealing the Moonstone and that “if he keeps the diamond; others will live to regret taking it from him, if he gives the diamond away.[3]” The power of these remarks is intense for the author is damming his cousin, his own blood, and professing a doomed future for his family. Two intense and significant statements.

The prologue of The Moonstone draws the reader in and sets him up for a fantastic story and a perilous journey. Its literal purpose is to give the history on the stone and inform the reader of the curses, doom, and ill repute the diamond has cause and it predicts some stormy weather for the diamond in the future. Is this all true? Read The Moonstone for the answers.

[1] Collins, Wilkie. p1
[2] Ibid p2
[3] Ibid p6

A Societal Ideal
Wilkie collin’s detective novel, “The Moonstone,” thrusts us into Victorian society through the lives of several different characters. The characters come together in hopes of solving the mystery of who stole the moonstone diamond and each takes a turn narrating their own story. As each narrator picks up from the point at which the previous narrator stops, the reader gets a sequential tale of the events, as they unfold. In other words, they relay the facts (along with their truths or biases) to the best of their knowledge, of the events leading up to and following, the scandalous theft of the precious stone. It is through the narrative of a particular character that Collins positively suggests that an ideal vision of society exists. This societal ideal is knowledge based, and, one in which success or happiness depends on how we use our inquisitive knowledge.
The disappearance of the diamond engages each character on a quest to get to the bottom of the mystery. This search for the truth behind the missing stone shows us that each character has a keen sense and desire for knowledge. Along this quest for answers, a particular character whom the reader can readily identify with because of his “everyman” qualities (such as his delightful sense of humour or his simple conservative views), is Gabriel Betteredge. As one of the first and major narrators in the story, he is an excellent example of how inquisitive knowledge, can lead to both success and happiness. Despite having enormous suspicion fall over the Verinder household and accusations thrust upon members of his small community, he refuses to allow his own person lose sight of his own self knowledge. In his moments of “detective fever” we see his inquisitive knowledge shine through as he, with the help of his “Robinson Crusoe,” remain true to his mannerisms and ways (from the beginning to the end of the novel). Within the opening page of the novel, he quotes from his Robinson Crusoe book: “Now I saw, though too late, the Folly of beginning a work before we count the cost, and before we judge rightly of our own strength to go through with it” (8). Betteredge puts forth this idea because here we have him, along with the other characters, starting a work (of solving a mystery). He suggests it is unwise to start this detective work without knowing what price one will have to pay if one does not know what the situation is and whether or not the situation is in our own means of handling. In other words we need to have knowledge. As the story progresses and streams of speculation and “paranoia” affect the many characters, Betteredge remains constant in his beliefs and self knowledge. In fact, as Sergeant Cuff makes speculative claims regarding Miss Rachel (which in the end are mostly proved false), Betteredge says: “I am (thank God!) constitutionally superior to reason. This enabled me to hold firm to my lady’s view, which was my view also” (166). His lady’s views, and therefore his views as he says, are that Rachel is innocent of any crime. This shows us how he refuses to let any other views override his own, even if there may be some truth to them (because of Rachel’s inexplicable and irrational behavior following the theft of the diamond Cuff’s accusations are understandable). Furthermore he trusts himself to make the better judgment call. He figures that Cuff, is less knowledgeable than he is because unlike him, Cuff has not known these people for a very long time. In this sense he is saying we should trust what we already know (just as he trusts what he already knows), and put ourselves ‘superior’ to other peoples reasoning. By the end of the novel, the mystery is solved, and Betteredge proves that a little bit of inquisitive knowledge is really a good thing for society. Not only does his ‘detective fever’ help solve the Moonstone mystery, but also, it helps build a positive resolution to the societal dilemma. It just goes to show that it is therefore imperative that the self knowledge each individual has, whether right or wrong, be used to a certain extent. In the end it is still better to take it upon our selves to resolve certain issues than to depend upon others for their help.
Work cited
Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Imperial Propaganda the Moonstone

Wilkie Collin’s The Moonstone has been acknowledged as containing imperial propaganda through out, yet if one looks even closer, they will no doubt find an alternate reading which conveys a discrete dispute to the imperial frame of mind. The opening and closing of the novel, the prolog and the epilog, both take place in the British colony of India with the majority of the narrative occurring in London, England. In the beginning, the precious Jewel is stolen form a temple in India by middle class English men. Wilkie Collins links the theft of the jewel with violence and in turn associates these two degrading actions with that of colonial administration.

Towards the beginning of the novel, Gabriel Betteredge states that the inviolability of the English house has been “invaded by a devilish Indian diamond.’ (p67) Yet the prolog clearly points out that it was the invasion of the Indian homeland by the British that resulted in the misplacing of the scared Jewel. The three Indians are portrayed as a huge stereotype with attributes given to them as having ‘the patience of cats...the ferocity of tigers’ (p108), both cats and tigers being signs of the Indian culture. The value placed on the diamond in both cultures has very contrasting stand points. In the English culture the worth is estimated in terms of its monetary value where as in the Hindu culture the stone is measured only in its spiritual value. The colonial leaders rationalized there actions by reasoning that they were enlightening a culture they saw as inferior. The colonialists were taking control of the Indian markets and spreading Christianity through out the country. Colin’s uses the Jewel to convey his thoughts of imperial British rule. The jewel comes to England and causes distress among all who come into contact with it, yet in India the Jewel is held in sacred and seems to bring peace and calm to everyone involved with it there. If English society can not deal with this jewel without backstabbing, lies and deceit ensuing, what right do they have in viewing themselves as superior to the India society?

Even the English social order cannot solve the case of the moonstone. Ezra Jennings is the man responsible for cracking the case. Jennings is an outcast in the English society and wasn’t even raised in England; he was raised in an unnamed colonial outpost. The fact that a man raised in an English colony, such as India was at the time, constructs the final plan for discovering the truth points to the deeper imperial meaning through out the novel. Colin’s seems to feel that maybe Britain isn’t capable of controlling another nation because it can’t deal with its own problems. This is demonstrated overall with the problem the moonstone creates and not even sergeant Cuff can solve the riddle.

Opium, the drug that causes the problem in the first place, is that of an orient origin. Collins himself was in a state of heavy opium usage himself during the period when he wrote the Moonstone, so it’s no shock that the drug gets a fair deal of attention in the story. While The Moonstone is primarily a tale of family secrets, religious corruption, and an English society with a central attribute of disregard, the use of colonial markers and the subversion of stereotypes reveal that for Wilkie Collins there was an inherent link between a malfunctioning society and colonial exploitation.